The overall objectives of the program are to develop on-going research in which faculty and students can actively engage; to improve the quality of undergraduate training and experiences in the Biology Department by providing additional faculty, equipment and supplies to update course offerings; to provide additional means of promoting professional growth by enabling faculty and students to attend professional meetings related to their research projects and to encourage students toward careers and advanced degrees in the Biomedical Sciences. Three projects are involved in this program. Project I involves an investigation of the effects of such insults as ethanol, salicylic acid, phenobarbitals, sodium monoglutamate, quinine, UV light, osmotic changes on the ceells and organs of rats using the incorporation of radioactive amino acids as the test mechanism. Electrophoretic technology will be used in an attempt to identify the affected protein. Project II investigates the transformation of normal embryonic cells to tumerous cells in an attempt to develop a model for identifying promoters of environmental importance that enhance chemically induced mutagenesis. Project III will explore the method for the application of immunofluorescence to study the ecology of Clostridium botulinum. Faculty members involved in each project will be given release-time from teaching and additional persons will be employed to assume the -release-time responsibilities of those engaged in research. At least eleven students majoring in Biology or Chemistry will be actively engaged in the research efforts along with the principal investigators.